ORNITHOLOGICAL REPORT FOR NORFOLK. 173 



people, it rose considerably, but soon dropped again to its 

 original level, some fifteen feet above the reeds, among which 

 we eventually saw it settle. I should have liked at once to have 

 searched for the nest, but the owner was obdurate, fearing that 

 the birds might forsake it, a feeling with which one could not but 

 sympathise. The return of the Bittern to Norfolk of late years 

 has been accompanied by a general desire to protect it on the 

 part of the Broad owners, and it is hoped that this good action 

 will have the support of the public who use our Broads in 

 summer. The " boom " of a Bittern is a curious sound, not 

 often to be heard ; it is hushed in the middle of the day, but 

 towards evening this nocturnal " Butter-bump " as it has been 

 called in allusion to its note, becomes more lively. By listening 

 carefully, we could easily distinguish five successive " gasps," 

 rising in crescendo, and terminating in the deep "bump," whence 

 its name, but sometimes there were only three "gasps," which 

 agrees with the statement of Francis Willughby that the number 

 is always uneven.* Whether it goes on serenading its mate all 

 night is hard to say ; on the present occasion I can testify that 

 its "boom" could be heard up to 11 p.m. and again at 4 a.m. 

 the next morning— i. e. sixteen minutes after sunrise — breaking 

 forth about once in four minutes, and this went on with clock- 

 like regularity until past six o'clock. I believe it is not yet 

 settled whether the female Bittern can boom or not, but at any 

 rate she does not do it nearly as loud or as often as the male. 

 Mr. W. P. Pycraft in a recent article (' The British Bird Book,' 

 iv., p. 338) leaves the question open, merely remarking that the 

 syrinx, which is usually considered to be the voice organ in birds, 

 presents no modification. An old eighteenth century naturalist, 

 Dr. Lamb, however, mentions having found in repeated dissec- 

 tions a loose membrane on the inner side of the windpipe in the 

 male, which the female does not possess (' Zoologist,' 1880, 

 p. 318). It is through the nostrils, which are distinctly larger 

 than a Heron's, that the sound is believed to come. 



24th. — A pair of Roseate Terns identified at Blakeney Point 

 by Mr. Bishop, and also by the bird-watcher, who were both near 

 enough to see their rosy breasts, besides at once noticing the 



* " Boatus numero imparl vel tres simul, vel quinque edit, ut aiunt " 

 (' Ornithologise Libri Tres,' p. 208). 



